Blank-feeding mechanism for metal-working machines.



J. A. EDEN, JR. BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM .FOR METAL WORKING'MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MA YI5| I914.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- I N VE N TOR, 21m, Jr

' COLUMBIA PLANDCIRAPH co., WASHINGTON. D4 6.

.I. A. EDEN, JR.

BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM FOR METAL WORKING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIS. 1914.

1,159,195, Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. O wi W1? E SE 9 9 g EINVENTOR",

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASH1NOTON D c STATES rnrnnr onnio JA ES A. EDEN, JR, or LSPRINGFIELD, MAssAoHnsE'r'rs, ASSIG1\TOB 'ro BAUSH MACHINE TooL GOMBANY, A oonronatrrolv on MASSACHUSETTS.

BLANK-FEEDING MECHANISM' FOR METAL-WORKING MACHINES.

Application filed May 15, 1914. Serial No. 838,677.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J Mns A. EDEN, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in Springfield, Massachusetts, have invented- Blank-Feeding Mechanisms for Metal- VVorking Machines, of which the-following is a specification.

This invention has for its object-to providean improved mechanism for selecting a single article or blankfrom a large;number contained in a suitable. receptacle, .and delivering the articles one at Ya time vat .a certain part of the device. I

A further object ofthe invention is to provide in connection with such an arrangement,.a member operating in timed relation to the delivery of each article-:or blank,

whereby the position of the blank will be changed from that it occupies :asdelivered by the selecting member. V 1

In the accompanying drawings showing one embodiment of my invention, Figure l is a s deelevation of the device; Fig. 2jis a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig.

3 is a plan View of the device; Fig. 4-. is a fragmentary side viewat the upperpart of the device; Fig. 5 is a similar view-with the parts in shifted positions; Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 66, indicated on Fig. 4; Fig- 7 shows separately the stop piece on the arm that'selects and delivers the blank. j

Referring .to the embodiment of :the invention illustrated, asuitable base 8 carries an upright frame 9, which supports a frame 10 for vertical adjustment by means of threaded rods 1 on each side; andthe frame.

The upper portion of the slidecomprises a movable member or arm which is suitably shaped to select and convey upward the single blank and which is adapted to be tilted to cause the selected blank to .be de livered or slide off byjgravity. ,7

Specification of LettersPatent.

certain new and useful Improvements in ratenteanemz, 1915.

In the construction set forth, the hopper 11 is shown as having a pair of downwardly converging walls whose lower edge portions 14- and 15 are spaced apart to permit the vertical reciprocation of a slide 16 which is operated from a yoke 17 connected by a link 18 with an arm 19 which is adjustably pivoted in a slotted bracket 20, as indicatedin Fig. 2. This arm 19 has a slot .21 intowhich.

Fig. 6.

The upper edgeoff the slide 16 comprises a grooved arm 25 hinged to the body of the slide at the point 26; the arm in its normal position resting horizontallv on the body of the slide, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 6, and having a portion 27 extending beyond the hinge 26 a short distance, but not enough to overbalance the main portion of the arm. Thus the armwill normally lie in thehorizontal position.

X'Vhen the slide is in the position indicated in Fig.6, the arm 25 will have its grooved upper edge at the lower edges of the inclined walls of the hopper so that one of the blanks 5, shown in the form of rods suitable for the manufacture of bolts, will fall into the groove inthe arm; wherebywhen the slide is elevated'bythe described means, the se lected blank Z) Will be'carried.u1: ward. The groove in the top of the arm 25 is so shallow (see Fig. 6) that the blank resting therein.

projects upward sufficiently to-force aside other blanks as it rises through them and thus to exclude such other blanks from the groove. "By reason of this selection of a single blank and exclusion of others from the groove'the lifting of the blank and the sliding of-it off the arm25 are perfectly simple operations and can be executed at a comparatively high rate of speed.

As the slide-reaches itsuppermostaposition, the arm isautomatically vtiltedtofan inclinedposition asindicated in Figs. .1' and 5,- whereby the blank .7) will slide'down'the groove in the arm by gravity, and thus be. delivered or ejected from :the device; the

uppermost position will strikea lug 181 on.

the frame member 10, and cause the arm to be tilted to the position indicated in these views, to eject the blank; the arm 25 returning to normal horizontal position as the slide is lowered.

The final delivery of the blank from the arm 25 may be regulated to take place at the final portion of the upward movement of the slide by providing a stop piece at the extremity of the extension 27 of the arm; a stop piece 82 being shown pivoted on the side of the part 27, and having a bent end 38 that normally extends across tie end of the groove, being normally retained in this position by gravity, also assisted by a spring 342.

lVhen the arm 25 is shifted by the stop lug 31 at the latter portion of the upward movement of the slide, the stop piece 32 will strike a strip 35 fast on an arm 36 extending out from the frame 10, whereby this stop piece 32 will'have its end 33 swung down beyond the groove in the arm to release the blank and permit it to slide from the arm. Fig. 1 shows the arm swung only far enough to bring the stop piece 32 into engagement with the strip 35, the blank Z) being still held in the arm. Fig. 5 shows the swinging movement of the arm completed and the stop piece withdrawn from over the end of the arm. v

WVhile this device is designed to feed blanks of various kinds to various kinds of machines and mechanisms, it is particularly adapted to feed bolt blanks to a rotatable head member provided with a circular series of holders, each comprising a pair of gripping members; and in. Fig. 1 a portion of a head of this character is shown at 40,

having a lower gripping member ll, tha is so arranged relatively to the feeding device that it will receive the lower end of the blank 6 as it slides down the arm 2-5. In order to bring the upper end of the blank Z) into a cooperating gripping member 42 I provide a lever 4-3 pivoted at 44 on the arm 36, the said lever having a wide end portion 45 arranged in the path of movement of the blank Z) as it falls from the tilted arm, the end portion 45 swinging up ward at the proper time to swing the blank inward to the desired upright position. This lever 4:3 has an extension that may be weighted at 4-7, and the extension rests on a pin 48 on the slide 1G, whereby as the slide moves up and down the lever will be swung. In the uppermost position of the slide the lever extension will. be raised and the end portion 45 will be moved away from the head; and when the slide is lowered the arm d6 will move downward and the end portion 45 will be shifted toward the head, so as to swing the lank (that now has its lower end in the gripping member .41) inward to a vertical position. I

Though I have described with great particularity of detail a certain specific embodiment of my invention yet it is not to be understood therefrom that the invention is re stricted to the particular embodiment disclosed.

Various modifications thereof in detail and in the arrangement ofthe parts may be made by those skilled in the art without parting from the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. An apparatus for feeding rod-shaped blanks comprising a hopper adapted to carry a number of such blanks in parallel substan tially horizontal positions, a member having a narrow upper edge with a groove so as to accommodate one of said blanks in a position parallel to those in the hopper, and means for lifting said member through said blanks to an inclined position elevated above the blanks in the hopper, so as to select and elevate a single blank in said groove and to cause the selected blank to slide in endwise direction off said member, said groove being so shallow that a blank resting on the bottom of said groove projects upward sufficiently to exclude other blanks from the groove in rising through them.

' 2. An apparatus for feeding rod-shaped blanks comprising a hopper adapted to carry a number of such blanks in parallel positions, a member having a narrow upper edge with a shallow groove so as to accommodate only a single one of said blanks in a position parallel to those in the hopper, and means for lifting said member through said blanks to an inclined position elevated above the blanks in the hopper, so as to select and elevate a single blank in said groove and to cause the selected blank to slide in endwise direction off said member, said hopper having an inclined wall with a substantially horizontal lower edge engaging said member, so that the reciprocation of said member through the blanks supported on said wall tends to cause said blanks to assume parallel horizontal positions.

3. An apparatus for feeding rod-shaped blanks comprising a hopper adapted to carry a number of such blanks in parallel sub stantially horizontal positions, a member having a narrow upper edge with a groove so as to accommodate one of said blanks in a position parallel to those in the hopper, and means for lifting said member through said blanks to an inclined position elevated above the blanks in the hopper, so as to select and elevate a single blank in said groove and to cause the selected blank to slide in endwise direction off said member, said groove being so shallow that a blank resting on the bottom of said groove projects upward sufficiently to exclude other blanks from the groove in rising through them, a

l'oU

with a shallow groove so as to accommodate only a single one of said blanks in a position parallel to those in the hopper, and means for lifting said member through said blanks to an inclined position elevated above the blanks in the hopper, so as to select and elevate a single blank in said groove and to cause the selected blank to slide in endwise direction off said member, in combination with a work holder into which the blank is received in an inclined position from said member, and means for swinging said blank into an upright position in said holder.

5. A blank feeding apparatus adapted to cooperate with a work holder for receiving such blanks, said blank feeding apparatus comprising a positioning member located adjacent to said holder, means for feeding a blank to an inclined position resting against said positioning member and supported at its lower end in said work holder and means for moving said positioning member toward the holder to force the blank completely into the holder. 7

'6. An apparatus for feeding rod-shaped blanks comprising a hopper adapted to carry a number of such blanks in parallel positions, a member having a narrow upper edge with a shallow groove so as to accommodate only a single one of said blanks in a position parallel to those in the hopper, means for lifting said member through and above said blanks, said member being pivotally mounted and a stop for limiting the upward movement of the outer end of said member, so that said member selects and elevates a single blank in said groove and is then tilted to cause the selected blank to slide in endwise direction off said member.

7. A blank feeding apparatus comprising a hopper having at its bottom a downwardly inclined wall, a slide vertically movable at the lower edge of said-wall, an arm pivoted at the upper portion of the slide to normally rest on the top edge of the slide, the arm having its upper edge grooved to receive a blank therein from the hopper when the slide is lowered to bring the arm to the bottom of the hopper adjacent said inclined wall, means for automatically tilting the arm when the slide is elevated above the hopper whereby the blank in the groove of the arm will slide down the same by gravity,

a positioning lever having one arm arranged in the path of movement of the blank when discharged from the tilted arm, and means for swinging said lever from the movement of said slid Y 8. A blank feeding apparatus comprising a hopper having at its bottom a downwardly inclined wall, a slide vertically movable at the lower edge of said wall, an arm pivoted at the upper portion of the slide to normally rest on the top edge of the slide,

the arm having its upper edge grooved to receivea blank therein from the hopper when the slide is lowered to bring the arm to the bottom of the hopper adjacent said inclined wall, means for automatically tilting the airmwlien the slide is elevated above the hopper whereby .the blank in the groove of the arm will slide down the same by gravity, a stop on the arm for arresting the blank thereon, means for automatically shifting the stop to release the blank for ejection when the arm has been tilted by said means,

discharged from the tilted arm, and means for swinging said lever from the movement of said slide.

9. A blank feeding apparatus comprising ahopper having its bottom formed of a pair of downwardly converging walls, a slide vertically movable between the lower edges of said walls, an arm pivoted at the upper portion of the slide to normally rest by gravity on the top edge of the slide, the arm having its upper edge grooved to receive a blank therein from the hopper when the slide is loweredto bring the arm to the bottom of the hopper adjacent said converging walls, a stop on the hopper arranged to engage and tilt the arm when the slide is elevated above the hopper whereby the blank in the groove of the arm will slidedown the same by gravity, a stop piece movable on the arm for arresting the blank thereon, means for automatically shifting the stop piece to release the blank for ejection when the arm has been tilted by said means, a weighted positioning lever having one arm arranged in the path of movement of the blank when discharged from the tilted arm, and a stop on the slide for swinging said lever from the movement of said slide.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of riaten'ts, I

7 Washington, D. G. i 

